Petersburg Vessel Owners Association

The IPHC announced that members of the new Strategic Advisory Board had been selected.  PVOA member Ryan Littleton was one of the members selected.  Way to go Ryan!
Molly Dischner
May 10, 2013 – 04:00 PM
The International Pacific Halibut Commission announced the members of its new Management Strategy Advisory Board May 3.

Americans make up the majority of the 16-member body, which is tasked with advising the commission about management objectives and strategies.

IPHC Commissioner Jim Balsiger, an administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Serivce, will serve as the American ex officio member. Canadian Commissioner Paul Ryall is the other ex officio member from the commission.

The members are as follows:

Bruce Gabrys, IFQ holder
John Woodruff, Icicle Seafoods
Peggy Read more…

Contact:
Sitka Area Office
Kristen Green
304 Lake Street
Sitka, AK 99835
Phone: (907) 747-6688
Date: April 10, 2013
Fax: (907) 747-6693
Time: 5:00 p.m.
2013 SOUTHERN SOUTHEAST INSIDE SUBDISTRICT SABLEFISH FISHERY
The 2013 Southern Southeast Inside (SSEI) Subdistrict commercial sablefish annual harvest objective (AHO) is 583,280 round pounds, unchanged from the 2012 AHO. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (department) evaluates stock status and establishes the SSEI AHO using commercial fishery and survey catch per unit effort (CPUE) data, fishery and survey biological data (age, weight, length, and maturity), and stock status trends of sablefish populations in surrounding geographic areas.
Longline survey and fishery CPUE indices declined slightly from 2011 to 2012. Despite the Read more…

Contact:
Douglas Area Office
Adam Messmer
P.O. Box 110024
Andrew Olson
Juneau, Alaska 99811-0024
Phone: (907) 465-4853 (907) 465-4259
Date: April 11, 2013
Fax: (907) 465-4944 (907) 465-4944
Time: 12:00 p.m.
COMMERCIAL GOLDEN KING CRAB ANNOUNCEMENT
ICY STRAIT AREA CLOSURE
Douglas . . . The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (department) announced today that the commercial golden king crab fishery in the Icy Strait Area will close at 12:00 noon, Tuesday, April 23, 2013.
Based on an analysis of effort levels and harvest projections, harvest, as of the closure date, is expected to fall short of the 30,000-pound guideline harvest level for the Icy Strait Area. The department will continue to monitor golden king crab harvest levels in the six remaining open areas. Permit holders are Read more…

Things went fairly well at this meeting.  All of the decisions by the board were consistent with the written comments that PVOA submitted.  The Director testified on Wednesday afternoon specifically on 243, the forage fish plan.  That proposal was a board-generated proposal that would have placed herring on the list of species under the forage fish management plan.  This was a highly controversial proposal that, in our opinion, was unnecessary as herring (along with shrimp and Pollack) were specifically left out of the plan at the time it was passed by the BOF (1998) because commercial harvest was already allowed for those species and the FFMP designated the families or species for which commercial fisheries weren’t allowed.  While, on the face value, this proposal would not have closed Read more…

The following people have submitted their names for appointment to the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

Robert Alverson, Seattle commercial fisherman
Kiril Basargin, Area 4 IFQ holder, commercial
Linda Behnken, ALFA, SE commercial
Alfred “Bubba” Cook, may be associated with WWF
Richard Deaver, Wrangell charter fisherman
Kevin Delaney, Consultant/biologist for Kenai Sportfisherman’s Association from Colorado
James Hubbard, Seward halibut and black cod fisherman and PVOA member, F/V Kruzof
Stephen Joner, affiliated with Makah tribe
Donald Lane, Homer halibut fisherman
Stephanie Madsen, former NPFMC member, currently Ex Dir. At-sea Processors Association
Hunter McIntosh, President of The Boat Company, SE ecotourism charters
Henry V.E. Mitchell, perennial NPFMC Read more…

The IPHC today announced the following halibut catch limits for 2013 (Mlbs):

Regulatory        2012 Catch        “Blue Line”             2013 Catch        Percent Change

Area                    Limits                                                 Limits                  From 2012

2A                       .990                0.710                           .990                    0%

2B                    7.038               4.580                          7.038                    0%

2C*                  Read more…

Please follow this link for current information regarding the rescinding of the dockside exam exemption for commercial fishing vessels fishing or transiting Southeast Alaska inside waters.

Recission of SEAK Exemption from Mandatory Dockside Exams Response, Jan2013

Petersburg . . . The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced today that seasons for the 2012/2013 commercial Tanner and golden king crab fisheries in Southeast Alaska will open by regulation at 12:00 noon on Sunday, February 17, 2013. The season start date for the Tanner and golden king crab fisheries is based on the date with the smallest Juneau tidal range between February 10 and February 17 (5 AAC 35.110(a) and 5 AAC 34.110(b)). Fishermen are also reminded that weather delay criteria for Tanner and king crab fisheries have been recently adopted in regulation. Any delay to the start of the 2012/2013 Tanner and golden king crab fisheries due to weather will be announced 24 hours before the start of the fisheries (5 AAC 35.110(b) and 34.110(f)).

The registration deadline for both fisheries Read more…

The Southeast Alaska pink salmon harvest in 2013 is predicted to be in the excellent range, with a point estimate of 54 million fish (80% confidence interval: 42–67 million fish). An actual harvest of 54 million pink salmon would be well above the recent 10-year average of 37 million pink salmon, but is close to the average harvest over the past five odd years. The 2013 forecast was produced in two steps: 1) a forecast of the trend in the harvest, and 2) the forecast trend adjusted using 2012 juvenile pink salmon abundance data provided by the NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Auke Bay Laboratories. A brief discussion and description of the forecast methods can be found at:

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=commercialbyareasoutheast.salmon#/forecasts

Department Read more…

PVOA members, as you are aware the 2010 Coast Guard Reauthorization Act requirements are now in effect.  PVOA has compiled all of the regulations on our web site including information on mandatory dock side exams, mandatory safety training, and regulations on new vessel construction.  A summary of the new regulations from the Coast Guard can be found on the PVOA web site at http://pvoaonline.org/resources/coast-guard-reauthorization/ .

Information includes:

Q & As – COMMERCIAL F/V SAFETY TRAINING REQUIREMENTS FishTrainReqsQ&A

NEWLY BUILT COMMERCIAL FISHING VESSELS, SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE TO A VESSEL, ALTERNATE SAFETY COMPLIANCE PROGRAMS, AND MANDATORY SAFETY EXAMINATIONS here

Information from the Coast Guard http://www.fishsafe.info/

Alaska Marine Safety Education Association Read more…